Preparations are underway to make artificial rain in Delhi.

There are preparations to make artificial rain to improve the suffocating air of Delhi. After Diwali, the air here has remained in the severe category of air pollution for eight consecutive days. Now to reduce pollution, rain will be made on Tuesday through cloud seeding technique. In Delhi, flights have already been flown for cloud seeding trials in Khera and Burari. If the test of artificial rain is successful then the polluted air can be improved.

Artificial rain has a long history. It was used for the first time in 1946. It was hoped that it would help in dealing with the severe drought here. Keeping this in mind, cloud seeding technology that provides artificial rain was invented. Know, who invented this technology, how does unseasonal rain occur and what are the necessary conditions for it?

Who discovered the technology of artificial rain?

Vincent J. Schaefer invented cloud-seeding to artificially produce rain. Dropping out of high school to support his family, Schaefer began working at General Electric at the age of 15, eventually working his way up from the machine shop to the research lab. There, under the guidance of chemists, he helped develop inventions such as World War II gas-mask filters, submarine detectors, and a smoke machine to disguise military maneuvers.

In 1946, he attracted the world's attention with his research when he put dry ice in a refrigerator and suddenly saw ice crystals forming. By dropping six pounds of dry snow into clouds mimicking the impact of an airplane on a Massachusetts mountain, they demonstrated that such "seeding" could produce artificial snow or rain.

Vincent J. Schaefer. Photo: Bettmann / Contributor/Getty Images

Schaeffer later collaborated with Bernard Vonnegut to develop silver iodide, which was used to seed clouds. Schaefer later founded and created the Center for Atmospheric Science Research at the State University of New York at Albany.

For the first time, preparations have been completed for artificial rainfall through cloud seeding in Delhi. Today it has been successfully tested by experts in Burari area.

The Meteorological Department has predicted the presence of clouds on 28, 29 and 30 October. If circumstances are favourable,

— Rekha Gupta (@gupta_rekha) October 23, 2025

How does artificial rain happen?

To make artificial rain, it is necessary to have natural clouds in the sky beforehand. Planes are used in the process of creating artificial rain. Through these, silver iodide, salt and dry ice are released on the already existing clouds. This process is called cloud seeding. These chemicals are released on the clouds while taking the ship in the opposite direction.

Now let us understand how it affects us. The salt particles pull the vapor present in the clouds. Along with this, moisture is also drawn. It collects and takes the form of drops. As the pressure increases, they become larger and when the pressure increases, they form rain.

Trial for artificial rain was conducted in Khera and Burari.

IIT Kanpur successfully conducted cloud seeding trials over Delhi's Burari area today. If atmospheric conditions remain supportive, Delhi NCR could witness its first instance of artificial rainfall on October 29. pic.twitter.com/D3Gy3EMhZZ

— Kanpur Index (@TheKanpurIndex) October 23, 2025

How much moisture is required in clouds for rain?

Cloud seeding requires clouds with sufficient moisture; without them, rain cannot occur from seeding. According to scientists at IIT Kanpur, seeding is effective only when the clouds have at least 50% moisture and are at a height of 500 to 6,000 meters above the ground. The recent dry and thin skies of Delhi had delayed the rains due to the lack of necessary clouds.